GBPPR 'Zine

Issue #23

The Monthly Journal of the American Hacker

February 2006

"Bin Laden found other things to like about Sudan, including the slave trade. He began purchasing small children to pick marijuana on his farms in the Nile River valley just north of Khartoum. He also put the slave children to work on his large sunflower plantation. The price for such slaves was most reasonable. He could purchase a healthy young boy or girl of eight or nine who had been snatched from Uganda for one AK47." Exceprt from Al Qaeda Brotherhood of Terror by Paul L. Williams.

Table of Contents Page 2 / Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals Overview of the aerial outside plant equipment. Page 27 / Understanding Nortel DMS100 Capacity Administration Overview of determining how much your DMS100 can handle. Page 36 / Nortel DMS100 Announcement Table (ANNS) Announcement routing under a DMS100. Page 42 / Defeating Passive Infrared Motion Sensors Experimental idea to bypass a common infrared motion sensor. Page 72 / Infrared Flashlight Modification Turn a simple LED flashlight into a helpful night vision aid. Page 77 / Bonus Old Schlitz Ad. Page 78 / The End Editorial and rants.

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

Drop & Block Wiring at Aerial Cable Terminals

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Understanding Nortel DMS100 Capacity Administration

Purpose The purpose of this guide is to provide the Nortel DMS100 family capacity administrator with descriptions of the capacities of traffic sensitive switch components and to suggest methods and procedures to observe how these capacities are being used by an inservice switch. Traffic sensitive components are those major parts of the switch that are susceptible to service degradation as the offered load is increased and approaches the engineered capacity level. Monitoring capacity is an essential administrative function because it determines if the switch is operating under the conditions projected for the engineered period. Deviations from the projections may alter the end of design date (forecast date when additional resources will be needed) for the switch. Note: Remote modules are not addressed in this article. Information on remote equipment may be found in the Operational Measurements Reference Manual. Capacity Definitions Typically, the capacities of the DMS100 family switches are addressed in accordance with terms used by the design engineers. These terms, which reflect the different capacity concepts that are employed in the provisioning process, have been adopted for use in the daytoday monitoring activities. These terms include:
Physical (Termination) Capacity Traffic Capacity RealTime Capacity Memory Capacity

Physical Capacity Physical capacity is the total number of terminations that can be accommodated by a switch component or group of components, for example, the total number of terminations for lines in a Line Concentrating Module (LCM) or group of LCMs. Traffic Capacity Traffic capacity is the maximum number of terminations or requests for service that can be accommodated by a component or group of components while still meeting established delay and blocking service standards. RealTime Capacity Realtime capacity, as applied to the DMS100 family central processing unit (NT40) or DMSCore (SuperNode), is the maximum number of call attempts that the Central Processing Unit (CPU) or DMSCore can process while meeting the HighDay Busy Hour (HDBH) service objective of not exceeding 20 percent dial tone delay (delay greater than 3 seconds).

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Memory Capacity Memory can be a call limiting factor for a DMS100 family switch and should be monitored to assure that there is sufficient memory at all times to meet the engineered call capacity of the CPU. Memory capacity administration is not addressed in this article, but information on the subject can be found in Memory Administration Guide and the Office Parameters Reference Manual. Administration Functions Administration of capacity includes monitoring capacity use and the effects that it may have on the DMS100 family switch. To monitor the use, data is gathered through performance indicators such as Operational Measurements (OMs), logs, and capacity tools such as MEMCALC, and various Maintenance and Administration Position (MAP) status reports and counts. Definitions of Administration Terms Traffic Sensitive Switch Components Traffic sensitive switch components are the specific components or resources that are susceptible to performance degradation. Performance degradation may occur when the traffic load on a component or resource approaches or exceeds its engineered limits, or when a component or resource failure occurs. The traffic sensitive components of the DMS100 family of switches discussed in this article are listed below (excluding those in the remote applications):
Central Processing Unit (NT40) DMSCore (SuperNode) Line Module (LM) Line Concentrating Module (LCM) Enhanced Line Concentrating Module (LCME) Trunk Module (TM) Digital Trunk Controller (DTC) Line Group Controller (LGC) Line Trunk Controller (LTC) Outside Plant Module (OPM) Service Circuits Networks

Busy Hours The DMS100 family switches are engineered based on empirical data or forecast data for the busiest hour for individual components or for the entire office (switch). These hours are referred to as busy hours. Listed below are the most commonly used busy hours and their definitions. Call Busy Hour The call busy hour is the timeconsistent 60 minute period having the most call originating plus incoming (O + I) attempts per main station or Network Access Line (NAL). This hour is used primarily for the development of processor realtime capacities.

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Usage Busy Hour (Office Busy Hour) The usage busy hour is the timeconsistent 60 minute period producing the most originating plus terminating (O + T) use per main station or NAL. This hour is used primarily for gathering data for load balancing and provisioning of switching hardware and software. Service Busy Hour (Dial Tone Busy Hour) The service busy hour is the timeconsistent 60 minute period when the highest percentage of customers originating a call must wait more than 3 seconds for dial tone. Component Busy Hour The component busy hour is the timeconsistent 60 minute period when call attempts or use are the highest for a particular switch component, for example, Digitone receivers, tones, and announcements. These hours may coincide, or each may be in a separate time period and administered separately. Busy Hour Determination Busy hours are derived from studies that are taken just prior to the office busy season. The busy season is defined as the three months (not necessarily consecutive) that have the highest average business day traffic during the office busy hour. Busy hour determination studies are usually conducted for 515 days between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. The busy hour that is determined is then used during the following busy season. Busy hour studies may be conducted on a manual basis or through the use of a mechanized system. By whatever means, the studies should select the time periods that provide call data that can be used to engineer the switch most effectively and measure the level of service being rendered to the subscribers. The characteristics of the office determine the periods of the day to be studied. In some offices, the calling patterns do not change significantly from one busy season to another. For those offices, a five day study is sufficient to verify that the hour has not changed. The hours chosen should be the known busy hour and the hours on either side of that hour. In other offices, several hours may carry loads of approximately the same level, so a longer study period (10 to 15 days) and the full range of hours (8 a.m. to 11 p.m.) should be considered. All data should be collected at least on a halfhourly basis. The criteria for changing the designated busy hour from one time period to another is determined by the operating company. Grade of Service The basic design philosophy of the DMS100 family is based on delay criteria from the peripheral originator (line or trunk) up to the network. The network and all terminating paths are designed based upon blockage criteria. Blockage is defined as the failure to find an idle channel and is referred to as matching loss. The rates of delay and blockage are referred to as the Grade of Service (GOS). The higher these rates become, the lower the GOS that is experienced by the subscriber.

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Delay in the DMS100 family occurs in the form of Dial Tone Delay (DTD) for originating calls and Incoming Start to Dial Delay (ISDD) for incoming calls. The percentage of delays greater than 3 seconds is used to assess the GOS for the overall switch design. The criteria are 1.5 percent DTD and ISDD greater than 3 seconds for the Average Busy Season Busy Hour (ABSBH) and 20 percent for the HighDay Busy Hour (HDBH). Service Criteria Service criteria are those objective levels of call blocking and delay that are set for the measured busy hour. Effective capacity administration will ensure that these service objectives are met. Service criteria have been developed on the basis of judgment and experience. The overall objective is to provide the best possible service at a reasonable cost. To establish a service standard, it is necessary to have a measurement that quantifies the inconvenience a customer experienced because of call blocking or call delay. When a call is blocked, a tone or message is delivered to the customer who then must hang up to try the call again. When a call is delayed, the customer is only considered to be inconvenienced if the delay exceeds some maximum tolerable value. The DMS100 family design applies a mixture of loss and delay criteria. Loss Criteria All the line modules are engineered to meet objective service levels during the worst case of Incoming Matching Loss (IML) during either the ABSBH or HDBH. Incoming matching loss is defined as that condition when a call cannot be completed because an idle path cannot be found between an incoming trunk and an idle line. Nortel engineering tables are based on IML objectives. The existing published matching loss criteria are stated for the entire office. They have two sources, peripheral matching loss and network matching loss. The peripheral portion is the predominant part of the HDBH criteria. The recommended incoming matching loss criteria for a DMS100 are shown below:
Nortel Recommended Matching Loss Criteria Busy Hour Overall Peripheral Network Average Busy Season Busy Hour 2.0% 1.9% 0.1% (ABSBH) HighDay Busy Hour 5.0% 4.0% 1.0% (HDBH)

Delay Criteria When subscribers and calls are served on a delay basis, the concern is usually more with the duration of the delay than the probability of delay. At the present time, delays of less than 3 seconds are considered acceptable to the subscriber, or at least they do not annoy the subscriber if they do not happen too frequently. The delay criteria that are used for engineering purposes are as follows:

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 Delay Criteria Delay Criteria Description Dial Tone Delay The probability that a customer will experience a dial tone delay of (DTD) more than 3 seconds Incoming The probability that an incoming trunk to a multifrequency receiver Start to Dial Delay will experience a delay of more than 3 seconds before the receiver (ISDD) becomes available.

The current recommended delay criteria are shown below:

Recommended Engineering Delay Criteria DMS100 DMS250

Delay Measurement ABSBH HDBH 10HDBH HDBH DTD 1.5% 20.0% See Note See Note ISDD 1.5% 20.0% 8.0% 20.0% Note: Not applicable to this office type.

With configurations that require a high penetration of Meridian Digital Centrex (MDC) or Multiple Appearance Directory Number (MADN) features, a line peripheral can become limited by highday busy hour attempts. The load service relationship for an attempt limited line peripheral is dial tone delay. The attempt capacity can be obtained by using the Nortel PRTCALC tool. Staying within this attempt limit maximizes throughput, minimizes any delay caused by the peripheral, and supports an overall DTD of 20 percent during the highday busy hour. The traffic capacity tables, associated with line peripherals and the PRTCALC program, assume an even (balanced) flow of traffic across all line modules. This PRTCALC function is usually performed by the traffic engineer. The administrator may get the required information from the engineer that is responsible for the office in question. Measurement Methods The following section describes methods for measuring the capacity in a DMS100 family switch. These methods are based on the measurements that are currently available in the data collection system. Performance Indicators Performance indicators are measurements or records of events that occur during a given period of time or in a time sequence. For the DMS100 family switch, performance indicators take the form of Operational Measurements (OMs) and log reports. In addition, a method to measure and control the balance of traffic load offered to like components of the product or system is employed. This measurement method is developed by the operating company and uses the standard operational measurements provided by the DMS100 family switch.

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Operational Measurements The administration of capacities in the DMS100 switch makes use of the switch's data collection system. This system collects groups of data designated OMs. Operational measurements are derived by monitoring certain events in the switch and entering the results into registers in the data store. Each register has a unique name. The registers are scored individually each time an event occurs, or when the state of an item is scanned (sampled) at regular intervals regardless of the time of the occurrence of an event. Scan rates are either 100 seconds or 10 seconds. Single events, measured individually, are referred to as peg counts. Sampled measurements are used to determine the degree of use of DMS100 hardware and software resources and are referred to as usage counts. Because each register can record either a single event or a group of similar events, the registers are provided on an office basis, or a unit basis. For example:
Register CP_CPLEV measures the amount of realtime spent by the CPU at the call processing level. One register is required for each office. Register TRK_NATTMPT records the number of call attempts allowed access to an outgoing trunk group. A register is provided for each trunk group.

The peg counts and usage counts are stored in active registers that are updated whenever new data are entered. The OM data in the active registers are useful only if related to the specific period of time of collection. Therefore, OM data cannot be copied directly from the active registers because of the probability that additional counts may occur during the copying process that would result in an inaccurate data output. To prevent inaccurate data, two complete sets of registers are provided. During any collection period, one set is used to collect current data and is known as the active class. The other set, known as the holding class, contains the data collected in the previous collection period and is used to provide data to reports or to the various accumulating classes. At the end of the collection period, data in the active registers are transferred to the holding registers and the active registers are zeroed. This transfer of data from active to holding occurs at the same time for all counts. Operating company defined accumulating registers are used to accumulate data over longer periods of time than the basic period (a day or week). The data accumulation process adds the contents of the holding class registers to the accumulating class registers just prior to the next data collection period. The accumulated data are available to the end of the accumulating period. At the end of the accumulating period, the registers are unloaded to a printer or other recording device and the registers are zeroed. The control of the length of the basic time periods is in the table designated as OFCENG. The office parameter OMXFR in OFCENG defines the timing value OMXFERPERIOD. This value is set at either 15 or 30 minutes. Whenever an active register count exceeds its 65,536 limit, an extension register needs to be assigned or the data will be understated. The extension register will peg once each time the limit is exceeded. The count on the regular register is added to the product of the extension register count multiplied by 65,536, for example:

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 Regular Register Count = 236 Extension Register Count = 2 236 + (2 x 65,536) = 131,308 (true total for this register)

The OMDUMP command (input at the MAP) may be used to determine which registers have been assigned extension registers. The command is as follows:
>OMDUMP CLASS (class name) FORMAT

The following figure shows an example of a portion of a printout containing a register value and its extension register value:
Example of a Register and its Extension Register INOUT2 INTONE NIN OUTMFL OUTRMFL OUTOSF ORIGANN ORIGKT ORIGOUT ORIGTONE NORIG NORIG2 TRMNWAT2 TRMMFL TRMBLK 0 111 31642 0 0 101 1993 10 32146 1480 11205[1] 1[2] 0 1 0 [1] NORIG Register [2] NORIG Extension Register

If an accumulating register is expected to exceed the register limit, then it should be assigned to doubleprecision. This assignment raises the limit to 4,294,967,296 counts (65,536 x 65,536) with a printout limit of 8 characters. Doubleprecision uses two registers as previously described. When changing a class precision from single precision to doubleprecision, all OM groups must first be deleted from the class. Refer to the Basic Administration Procedures, under command OMACCGRP, for detailed procedures. The output from the OMs may be sent to a local printer or collected on a mechanized system, for example, the Engineering and Administrative Data Acquisition System (EADAS).
Example of a DoublePrecision Register INOUT2 INTONE NIN OUTMFL OUTRMFL OUTOSF ORIGANN ORIGKT ORIGOUT ORIGTONE NORIG NORIG2 TRMNWAT2 TRMMFL TRMBLK 0 375 91141 0 0 13 1993 10 150585[2] 1480 325569[1] 0 0 1 0 [1] NORIG DoublePrecision Register [2] ORIGOUT DoublePrecision Register

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Log Reports A log report is a message from the DMS100 whenever a significant event has occurred in the switch or one of its peripherals. Log reports include status and activity reports as well as reports on hardware or software faults, test results, and other events or conditions likely to affect the performance of the switch. A log report may be generated in response to a system or manual action. Complete descriptions of all log reports are contained in the Log Report Reference Manual. Subscriber Trouble Reports Subscriber trouble reports are another source for monitoring the capacity of switch components. These reports can often point to offbusy hour capacity problems that otherwise may go undetected. Capacity Factors Capacity factors are those events that affect the capacity of a hardware or software component of the switch. The status of the capacity of switch components is measured by capacity indicators such as operational measurements and log reports. Capacity factors include such items as:
Holding Time Call Rate Call Blockage Circuit Failure Average Work Time Call Processing Messaging

Automated Tools Several automated tools are available to the administrator that will aid in the monitoring of capacity. Nortel developed these tools to assist in the initial provisioning of an office and for use in the ongoing surveillance of a working switch. REAL::TIME REAL::TIME is a PC program designed to provide an estimate of the DMS100 family CPU realtime requirements. The DMS100 switch provides distributed processing over many switching entities. The call attempt capacity of each of these switching entities must be predicted to establish operating guidelines. These guidelines are used to determine the loading levels for specific applications, including residential services. The realtime can be predicted by using the anticipated call mix and timing per call. Using traffic criteria along with detailed office provisioning data, REAL::TIME generates an estimated occupancy for the central processor. REAL::TIME can be used in the following office configurations:
DMS100 Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), MDC (including MADN) or both, in an Equal Access End Office (EAEO) DMS200 in an access tandem operation DMS100/200 in a combination of the above TOPS applications Signaling System #7 trunking applications Enhanced 800 Service Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) applications

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REAL::QUICK REAL::QUICK is an abbreviated form of REAL::TIME. Some assumptions and considerations are applicable to each processor. If there is a significant variance from these assumptions and considerations, a more detailed study should be performed using PRTCALC or REAL::TIME. PRTCALC PRTCALC is a PC program designed to provide an estimate of DMS100 family peripheral realtime requirements. PRTCALC can be used to calculate the realtime call attempt capacity for peripheral modules. PRTCALC is composed of three sections:
An input section used to organize the controller call data and feature requirements. A work sheet section that contains the PRTCALC call mix calculations. The call types derived from the input data are combined with the precall timings to determine the realtime requirements. An output section that is a summary of the input and the work sheet calculations.

Input for PRTCALC comes either from projected (forecast) data based on current operational measurement trends, or from inputs to the NTACCESS tool.

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Nortel DMS100 Announcement Table (ANNS)

Table Name Announcement Table Functional Description of Table ANNS This table contains data for each analog and digital announcement that is assigned in the switching unit. For all line connections to announcements, the Central Control (CC) instructs the connecting Peripheral Modules (PM) to use a 0 dB (zero) pad level on the line card gain setting. This is a default value and cannot be administered. A 0 dB pad level is the Nil Pad Group (NPDGP). For further information, refer to table PADDATA (Pad Data). Datafill Sequence & Implications The following tables must be datafilled before table ANNS:
CLLI (Common Language Location Identifier) DRAMS (Digital Recorded Announcement Machine)

The following tables must be datafilled after table ANNS:

ANNMEMS (Announcement Members) DRAMTRK (Digital Recorded Announcement Machine Track) DRMUSERS (Digital Recorded Announcement Machine Users)

Before a Subscriber Activated Call Blocking (SACB) announcement can be entered in table ANNS, an announcement CLLI must first be entered in table CLLI. An entry for SACB announcements can then be entered in table ANNS. Once value SACB is entered in table ANNS, the data for each announcement member must be entered in table ANNMEMS, and the phrases recorded on the Digital Recorded Announcement Machine (DRAM) cards must be entered in table DRMUSERS. DMS100 Service Switching Point (SSP) standard announcements are datafilled in table ANNS and are mapped to the system announcement ID in table AINANNS (Advanced Intelligent Network Announcement). DMS100 SSP customized announcements are datafilled in tables ANNS and DRMUSERS and are mapped to the system announcement ID in table AINANNS. Table Size 0 to 255 tuples. Memory for table ANNS is allocated dynamically. Note: The size of table ANNS increases if tables CUSTANN (Customer Group Announcement) and NSCANNS (Number Service Code Announcement) and if options XN26AA (announcement enhancements) or X983AB (SSP private virtual networking) are present in the office. With these tables, the size of table ANNS increases to 2,047 tuples. This increase is needed to support a larger number of customer groups (300 to 500).

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Datafill The following table describes datafill for table ANNS:

Table ANNS Field Descriptions Field Subfield Entry Explanation and Action CLLI Alphanumeric Announcement CLLI Keys (1 to 16 Enter the code that represents the announcement characters) in table CLLI. If the Attendant Busy feature is present in the switching unit, the suggested CLLI for Attendant Busy is "ATTBUSY". If the MusiconHold feature is present in the switch, the suggested CLLI for the MusiconHold announcement is "MUSIC". Each loudspeaker location must have its own announcement CLLI associated with it. Enter fixed CLLI "TOPSACTS" if field ANTYPE is set to "ACTS" for Automatic Coin Toll Service. Office parameter TOPS_ACTS must be set to "Y" (yes) in table OFCENG. ANNTYP ACTS, AIN Announcement Type AIS, AOSSVR, Enter the announcement type as follows: CFPA, CFRA, CLASS, CNAL, * ACTS to specify Automatic Coin Toll Service. CNALT, CNAT, CSMI, DMCT, * AIN to specify a given DMS100 user interface ECWTPA, IN, for each customer group. MCCS, MDS, NFRA, NTC, * AIS to specify Automatic Intercept System RCTL, SACB, Announcement if the switch has the AIS SLEENG, SLEFRE, feature. SPP, STND, TOPSVR, * AOSSVR to specify AOSS Voice Response. or VPSA * CFPA to specify Call Forwarding Programming Announcement. * CFRA to specify Call Forwarding Remote Access Announcement. * CLASS to specify Custom Local Area Signaling Services Announcement. * CNAL to specify Calling Number Announcement playback to a line. * CNAT to specify Calling Number Announcement playback over a trunk to a loudspeaker. * CSMI to specify Call Screening, Monitoring, and Intercept. * DMCT to specify Denied Malicious Call Termination.

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* ECWTPA to specify Enhanced Call Waiting Programming Announcements. * IN to specify an Intelligent Network (IN) Capability Set 1 Revised (CS1R) Custom Announcement. * MCCS to specify Mechanized Calling Card Announcement. * MDS to specify Audiogram Delivery Services (ADS) Announcements. * NFRA to specify Network Facility Remote Access. * NTC to specify Notification of Time and Charge Announcement. * RCTL to specify Subscriber Programmable Ringing for CFDVT (SPRING). * SLEENG to specify Screening List Editing English. * SLEFRE to specify Screening List Editing French. * SPP to specify Station Programmable PIN (Personal Identification Number). * STND to specify Standard Announcement. * SACB to specify Subscriber Activated Call Blocking. * TOPSVR to specify TOPS Voice Response. Office parameter TOPS_ACTS must be set to "Y" in table OFCENG. * VPSA to indicate Variable Phrase Standard Announcement (VPSA) phrases such as DNAENG (dialed number digits), CHAENG (charged number digits), CGAENG (calling number digits) or CNAENG (called number digits). For DMS250 only. Gap Enter the value "Y" to generate a gap between the tracks of a multitrack announcements. Enter "N" to have no gap between the track of a multitrack announcements. The system produces the GAP prompt only for selected announcement types. TRAFSNO 0 to 127 Traffic Separation Numbers If the switch has feature package X085AA (Traffic Separation Peg Count), enter the Traffic Separation number, 1 to 127, that is assigned to the announcement. If the traffic separation is not required, enter "0" (zero). GAP Y, N

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For switches with package X085AA, the range of values for the traffic separation number depends on office parameter TFAN_OUT_MAX_NUMBER in table OFCENG. For switching units without package X085AA, the range of values for the traffic separation numbers is 0 to 15. Reserve the traffic separation numbers 1 to 9 for generic traffic separation numbers. Refer to table TFANINT (Traffic Separation Intersection) for more information. MAXCONN 1 to 255 Maximum Connections Enter the maximum number of simultaneous connections that are permitted on the announcement. An entry outside this range is invalid. If ANNTYPE is equal to VPSA or CNAT, a value of 255 must be entered. For XACore, Nortel recommends "255" be entered. CYTIME 1 to 18, or 0 Cycle Times Enter the time, in seconds, for one announcement cycle on one channel (see the second, third, and fourth tables in this document). An entry outside this range is invalid and will cause the recorded announcement to be cutoff, at which point the line will be placed in a SYSBSY state.

Note 1: If the announcement cycle is longer than 18 seconds, field CYTIME can be changed to 0 (zero). This allows flexible announcement timing, which does not have a maximum limit for announcement length. The length of the announcement is always matched without datafill change. Note 2: If your office is equipped with a Cook or equivalent announcement machine and table AUDIO is datafilled as ANNS, 0 is datafilled in field CYTIME. Note 3: The cycle time for an Audichron is 0 (zero) due to the variable length announcement feature on Audichron. By setting the value of this field to 0 (zero), the length of the announcement is always matched. MAXCYC 1 to 255 Maximum Cycles Enter the maximum number of times the complete announcement is heard before the call is advanced to the next route in the route list. An entry outside of this range is invalid. This field must be set to "1" for multilingual NTC service. For multilingual NTC service, since one tuple represents one language and one announcement cycle contains several

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languages, each tuple in table DRMUSERS is used only once before advancing to the next tuple (language) in the same cycle. Thus, the number of announcement cycles datafilled in table ANNS must be one to ensure that languages are repeated in the proper sequence. This field should be set to "1" for ADS announcements. End

The following table shows the times for one cycle of prerecorded announcement. Use this table to datafill field CYTIME. If Special Information Tone (SIT) or silence is the first phrase for the announcement in the DRAMTRK table, add one second to the values shown. The time shown has been rounded off to the next second. The value in parentheses is the actual value:
OneCycle Prerecorded Announcement Time Announcement Time (Seconds) No Circuit (NCA) 10 (9.25) Sender Overload (SOA) 10 (9.25) Reorder (ROA) 9 (8.96) Vacant Code (VCA) 12 (12.03) Unauthorized Code (UCA) 12 (12.03) Receiver OffHook (ROH) 13 (12.54) Vacant Disconnect 7 (6.21) Misdirected Centralized 11 (10.59) Toll Access Code Not Dialed 10 (10.02)

The following table shows cycle times for digits:

OneCycle Digit Time Digit Duration (Seconds) 0 1 (0.61) 1 1 (0.51) 2 1 (0.54) 3 1 (0.54) 4 1 (0.64) 5 1 (0.77) 6 1 (0.64) 7 1 (0.67) 8 1 (0.54) 9 1 (0.67)

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The following table shows cycle times for special symbols:

OneCycle Special Symbol Time Special Symbol Duration (Seconds) Silence 1 (1.02) Test Tone 1 (0.16) Prompt 1 (0.99)

Datafill Example The following example MAP display shows sample datafill for table ANNS:

CLLI ANNTYP TRAFSNO MAXCONN CYTIME MAXCYC _______________________________________________________________________________________ CNALINE PSPD TDND CKTBSY MLA MCA OHQANNC VDN VCA EA4 EA3 WND VACT BLDN CLASSANN CFRAANN ARCONF ACBBUSY ARBUSY ACBSTD ARSTD ACBLTD ARLTD ACBDEACT ARDEACT ARDN ARPRIV ACBCONF CONFCOT FAILCOT PRMT1COT PRMTNCOT SLEENG1 SLEENG2 ADBFANN PVNCOLA PVNCOLB PVNCOLC PVNCOLD CNAL Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y CLASS CFRA STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y SLEENG SLEENG STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y STND Y 0 26 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 0 0 0 30 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 25 30 0 0 0 0 1 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 90 90 90 1 1 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 1 1 30 1 1 1 1 4 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 15 15 15 0 0 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 0 0 0 4 3 9 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 3 2 2 2 2

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Defeating Passive Infrared Motion Sensors

Overview A very experimental method of using a "heat beacon" to defeat the most common type of passive infrared motion sensor. The idea is to slowly bring up a masking source of infrared radiation, using a common heat lamp in this case, to saturate the area with radiation that is close to the same wavelength as the infrared radiation emitted from a human being. Since infrared motion sensors detect the movement of a "heat" source through its fieldofview, stationary "heat" sources should not set off the sensor, but temporarily blind the sensor in that particular area. Or something like that... Does it really work? Sorta. Testing showed the theory is sound, but far from perfect for those covert blackbag operations. It is something fun to mess with, though. The idea is, the infrared heat lamp is first placed in the "target" area to be blocked or saturated. Next, over a period of about four minutes, the heat lamp is brought up in intensity via a standard dimmer switch controlled by a stepper motor. This is to avoid creating any sudden temperature differentials which could set the motion sensor off. After a period of approximately thirty minutes (to do your work), the heat lamp will then begin to lower its output intensity. You should allow a few more minutes for the entire beacon assembly to cool down to the surrounding room temperature. Slowly remove the beacon from the area and finish covering your tracks. Do not pass in front of the beacon! At all times, move very slowly, remain very low, and always stay behind the beacon's output to avoid setting off the motion sensor. Mounting the beacon (or beacons, you'll need several of them) on top of large Radio Controlled (RC) toy cars is a very good idea. This will allow you to properly position them from a remote location. Slap on a wireless video camera to get even more information about the target area. The heat lamp will be powered via a highwattage AC inverter which, in turn, is connected to a highcurrent capable rechargeable battery. Car batteries are perfect for this application. You may wish to experiment with using different types of lenses and mirrors to control and tweak the output beam of the heat lamp. The stock heat lamp has a very wide beamwidth, whereas this application requires a very narrow beamwidth centered directly on the motion sensor's pyroelectric sensor. However, some lenses contain coatings which block the longer wavelengths of infrared radiation. Remember, plastic lenses will melt! How Infrared Motion Sensors Work Stolen from the Internet. Covers the Nippon Ceramic Co. RE200B infrared sensor. Infrared Radiation Infrared radiation exists in the electromagnetic spectrum at a wavelength that is longer than visible light. Infrared radiation cannot be seen but it can be detected. Objects that generate heat also generate infrared radiation including animals and the human body whose radiation is strongest at a wavelength of 9.4 micrometers (m). Pyroelectric Sensors The pyroelectric sensor is made of a crystalline material that generates a surface electric charge when exposed to heat in the form of infrared radiation. When the 42

amount of radiation striking the crystal changes, the amount of charge also changes and can then be measured with a sensitive FET device built into the sensor. The sensor elements are sensitive to radiation over a wide range so a filter window is added to the TO5 package to limit incoming radiation to the 8 to 14 m range which is most sensitive to human body radiation. Figure 1 shows how typically, the FET source terminal pin 2 connects through a pulldown resistor of about 100 kohms to ground and feeds into a two stage amplifier having signal conditioning circuits and a gain of 10,000 that produces a 0 to Vcc transition at its output. A well filtered power source of from 3 to 15 volts should be connected to the FET drain terminal pin 1. The amplifier is typically bandwidth limited to about 10 Hz to reject high frequency noise and is followed by a window comparator that responds to both the positive and negative transitions of the sensor output signal. The RE200B sensor has two sensing elements connected in a voltage bucking configuration. This arrangement cancels signals caused by vibration, temperature changes and sunlight. A body passing in front of the sensor will activate first one and then the other element as shown in Figure 2 whereas other sources will affect both elements simultaneously and be cancelled. The radiation source must pass across the sensor in a horizontal direction when sensor pins 1 and 2 are on a horizontal plane so that the elements are sequentially exposed to the infrared source. Figure 3 shows the RE200B electrical specifications and layout in its TO5 package. Figure 4 shows a typical application circuit that drives a relay. R16 adjusts the amount of time that RY1 remains closed after motion is detected.

Figure 1 RE200B Block Diagram

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Figure 2 Sensor Activation

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Figure 3 RE200B Specifications

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Figure 4 RE200B Application Schematic

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Construction The construction of this device was mostly for fun. Significantly smaller and less complicated methods can be used to control the output of the heat lamp. A stepper motor and a dimmer switch where used in this version as they are easily available. You'll need to take apart a standard light dimmer switch and carefully study and reverse engineer the internal components and layout. The control knob of the dimmer switch will have a little metal clip that slides along a black carbon path. This is the dimmer switch's version of a potentiometer. Measure the resistance of this path. Mine was around 250 kohms. You'll need to find a panelmount potentiometer of that same value. If you wish, you can remove the components from the dimmer switch module and mount them on the stepper motor control board to save space. Refer to the pictures for a basic idea on what to do with the rest of the construction and hardware mounting. Some scrap aluminum stock is used to make a mounting bracket for the stepper motor and the panelmount potentiometer. Connect their shafts together with a coupler (or some tape). The idea is that the stepper motor will slowly turn the potentiometer in one direction, then pause a few minutes, then slowly turn back in the other direction. The new panelmount potentiometer is used in place of the stock potentiometer on the dimmer switch's circuit board. If everything goes right, and it will need alot of tweaking, the heat lamp should increase and then decrease in intensity via the stepper motor controlled potentiometer. If it does this backwards, you wired the potentiometer wrong! The salvaged stepper motor (I have no idea where I found it) used in this particular project is labeled:
COPAL ELECTRA STEP MOTOR SP57 12V / 36 ohm / 7.5

The 12V refers to the maximum phase coil winding voltage and the 36 ohms is the windings resistance. Current draw per phase coil is around 300 mA, or 600 mA total for each step. The stepper motor also gets 7.5 of turn per step. So it would take 48 steps to do a complete 360 revolution. For controlling a panelmount potentiometer, you'll need around 44 steps, or about 330 of revolution. Several of these beacons should then be mounted to radio controlled toy trucks and remotely prepositioned in front of the motion sensor to create a "shadow" zone which a human being could operate in. It should be noted that infrared motion sensors have maximum sensitivity to movement across (parallel) their fieldofview and minimum sensitivity to any movement towards (perpendicular) the sensor's fieldofview. Always try to plan your attack route to slowly move towards the sensor when crossing its path. Longer, safer routes are much better than short, dangerous routes.

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Stepper Motor Truth Table Phase Coil 4 2 3 1 16F84 Port B0 B1 B2 B3 Binary Value 0001 0010 0100 1000 Decimal Value 1 2 4 8

To "step" the motor, you need to activate two of the four phase coils in a particular sequence shown below:
Stepper Motor Operation Clockwise Motor Step 1 2 3 4 Phase Coil 1 ON OFF OFF ON Phase Coil 2 OFF ON ON OFF Phase Coil 3 ON ON OFF OFF Phase Coil 4 OFF OFF ON ON

By viewing the two above tables, we can see that we need the four ports on the 16F84 to output a continuous binary value of 1100, 0110, 0011, 1001 for a clockwise operation of the stepper motor. In decimal that would be: 12, 6, 3, 9. It's kinda confusing, so study that a bit. Reverse this sequence to reverse the stepping action: 9, 3, 6, 12.

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Pictures

Overview of the stepper motor, dimmer switch control potentiometer (250 kohms), the shaft coupler, and rightangle aluminum stock to mount everything on. The aluminum pieces are epoxied together which makes construction very simple. The large cutout is for the shaft coupler.

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Stepper motor control board. A Microchip PIC16F84 controls four TIP141 darlington transistors which, in turn, control the phase coils of the stepper motor. The components on the lower left are from a dimmer switch. The dimmer switch's components where removed from the switch housing and mounted on the PC board. Note the six wires for the stepper motor. Each stator cup has three wires, two for the phase coils and a common. The unipolar stepper motor is actually made up of two motors connected together.

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Overview of the stepper motor control for the dimmer switch's control potentiometer.

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Another overview. The two terminal posts where added for the control board's +12 VDC and GROUND wires. The switch controls the time delay before the heat lamp begins lowering its intensity.

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Side view. Note the rubber Oring for the potentiometer. This allows a little bit of "play" for the potentiometer's shaft to meet the coupler, in case it doesn't properly line up.

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Rear view of the stepper motor.

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Completed beacon control board. The two large solder pads on the left are for the AC input to the light dimmer control.

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Overview of the infrared heat lamps used. A stock one is on the left. Hightemperature, black grill/stove paint is used on the back of the lamps to prevent any light from seeping through (there is alot). It also prevents the lamp from being easily seen.

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Hardware from a common clipon lamp holder, minus the reflector, will be used to position the heat lamp.

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Heat lamp in operation. The visible output is a deep red.

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I found a neat little black rubber lamp socket at the hardware store. This will replace the stock socket on the clipon lamp holder.

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This is what the lamp holder should look like when finished.

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Test setup. The clipon lamp holder is attached to a piece of rightangle aluminum.

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Closeup picture of the clipon holder and the angle bracket.

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Experimental test setup. The ammo box contains a large 12 volt leadacid battery. This will power both the beacon's control board and a 400 watt AC inverter. The AC inverter shown in the picture is a piece of junk, and only sources around 250 watts continuous. Get a good 800 watt or larger AC inverter to avoid any problems with long lamp run times. Run power to the beacon and lamp using two runs of 2conductor "zip" wire.

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Close up of the completed beacon. The cord and socket are for the lamp's AC voltage. The AC power cable goes through the dimmer switch controller then onto the heat lamp.

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Side view.

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Rear view.

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Completed infrared beacon. The flat black paint really reduces the overall visibility of the beacon.

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Operational Diagrams

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Stepper Motor Control Board Schematic

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PICBasic Source Code

' Heat Beacon Stepper Motor Control ' ' "Defeating Infrared Motion Sensors" GBPPR 'Zine #23 i var Byte B1 var Byte i = 0 B1 = 0 Pause 5000 Poke 134, 128 For i = 1 to 11 Gosub Stepper1 Next i Button 7, 0, 255, 0, B1, 1, Loop1 Sleep 600 Loop2: For i = 1 to 11 Gosub Stepper2 Next i Low Low Low Low End Loop1: Sleep 1800 Goto Loop2 Stepper1: Poke 6, 12 Pause 5000 Poke 6, 6 Pause 5000 Poke 6, 3 Pause 5000 Poke 6, 9 Pause 5000 Return Stepper2: Poke 6, 9 Pause 5000 Poke 6, 3 Pause 5000 Poke 6, 6 Pause 5000 Poke 6, 12 Pause 5000 Return 0 1 2 3 ' Set variables

' Initialize everything to 0

' Wait a bit ' Set Port B16 output, Port B7 input ' Step motor 44 times, increase intensity ' 44 * 7.5 = 330 degrees of travel ' 44 * 5 seconds = 220 seconds or 3.6 minutes ' Check time delay switch, if open: ' 600 seconds or 10 minutes

' Reverse direction of pot, lower intensity

' Power stepper motor down

' Touching of little boys ' If time delay switch is closed: ' 1,800 seconds or 30 minutes

' ' ' ' ' ' ' '

Output: 1100 Wait 5 seconds Output: 0110 Wait 5 seconds Output: 0011 Wait 5 seconds Output: 1001 Wait 5 seconds

' ' ' ' ' ' ' '

Output: 1001 Wait 5 seconds Output: 0011 Wait 5 seconds Output: 0110 Wait 5 seconds Output: 1100 Wait 5 seconds

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PIC16F84 Hex Code

:100000008C282A20A0000408A200080090002208E2 :1000100084002008272084130005181C20060319DB :1000200024281008031D1C281608FF3E031C252841 :100030000A303C2016082528100AFF30031924280E :10004000100B2428170825289909990C872884174C :10005000800487289400063094190530840000300D :100060008A00140807398207013402340434083442 :1000700010342034403480348F018E00FF308E07DE :10008000031C8F07031C872803308D00DF304A20B4 :100090003E288D01E83E8C008D09FC30031C53285E :1000A0008C07031850288C0764008D0F50280C18FB :1000B00059288C1C5D2800005D28080093019200DF :1000C0001C308E006F308F0071200F30831681043A :1000D0008312FF3063008C07031C8D0703186A2806 :1000E0008728103094008D018C01930C920C031C16 :1000F0007F280E088C070F0803180F0F8D078D0C33 :100100008C0C910C900C940B752810088728831385 :100110000313831264000800A701A401A501A6012E :1001200013308F0088303D20831680308600831284 :100130000130A70064000C3027020318A228D42045 :10014000A70F9A28073001209801FF3096009701E9 :100150000130990026080620A6000318CF28023097 :10016000930058305F200130A70064000C30270254 :100170000318BD28ED20A70FB5280610831606101A :1001800083128610831686108312061183160611B9 :10019000831286118316861163008312CC280730E0 :1001A000930008305F20B3280C30860013308F0096 :1001B00088303D200630860013308F0088303D2087 :1001C0000330860013308F0088303D2009308600D0 :1001D00013308F0088303D2008000930860013302E :1001E0008F0088303D200330860013308F00883028 :1001F0003D200630860013308F0088303D200C30C3 :0C020000860013308F0088303D2008007D :02400E00F53F7C :00000001FF

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Infrared Flashlight Modification

Overview This is a very simple modification to a common 16element Light Emitting Diode (LED) flashlight which is sold at most hardware stores. The stock flashlight has 16 white LEDs wired in parallel and is powered from three 1.5 volt "D" batteries. The internal resistance of the three batteries limits the total current draw, so the overall flashlight circuit design is very simple. Just some batteries, LEDs, wire, and a switch. To turn this device into a useful night vision aid, all you'll need to do is replace the white LEDs with ones that transmit in the infrared spectrum. These are available from Mouser or DigiKey, or you can scrounge them from old remote controls. If your wallet is big enough, Radio Shack also carries them. Be sure to get throughhole, T13/4 (5 mm) size, 780 nanometer wavelength (anything between 780940 nm will work) infrared LEDs. You can also fiddle with different optical power outputs and beamwidths. Higher output power LEDs will draw more current, which will reduce the lifespan of the batteries. Lower optical beamwidths will give the flashlight a narrower focus. After replacing the white LEDs with infrared LEDs, you'll need to then add a series 5 ohm, 2 watt resistor (or two 10 ohm, 1 watt resistors in parallel) to make up for the differences in voltage drops between the white (3.6V) and infrared (1.2V) LEDs. That should be it. This is a handy device for taking pictures of documents covertly (with a modified CCD camera) or for adding "night vision" capabilities to a video camera. The range isn't too great, though. You can also use red LEDs instead of infrared LEDs if you wish to make a lowobservable flashlight, like for map reading or signaling. Increase the series resistor value to compensate for the 1.8 volts red LEDs normally use. Battery time can be extended by "pulsing" the LEDs using a 555timer (50 Hz, 50% duty cycle) and a MOSFET power driver controlling the LEDs in series. When not in use, the flashlight makes a good device to bash Emmanuel Goldstein's head with. Pictures

Overview of the stock flashlight and the new infrared LEDs which will replace the white LEDs.

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Taking it apart. The reflector just slips over the LEDs. The RED wire is for +4.5 VDC from the batteries, and the BLUE wire is GROUND.

Solder side of the LED PC board. The outer ring is GROUND the inner ring is +4.5 VDC.

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Picture of the plastic reflector removed from the LEDs.

Removed the old white LEDs and started inserting the new infrared LEDs. Be sure to watch the polarity on the LEDs! The "flat" side of the LED is the GROUND.

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The infrared LEDs are installed and a series 5 ohm power resistor in soldered to the + ring.

Infrared flashlight in operation. Infrared light is suppressed in most CCD or video cameras, so the beam doesn't look very bright.

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Schematic

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Bonus

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End of Issue #23

Any Questions? Editorial and Rants Next they'll ban certain words or even cartoons... Council Bans Australian Flag January 2, 2006 From: www.news.com.au By Amy Coopes The New South Wales Government has urged a Sydney beachside council to rethink its decision not to fly the Australian flag over the iconic Bondi Pavilion amid suggestions the move was inspired by racial tensions. But Waverley Council's deputy mayor said Premier Morris Iemma didn't understand the facts and accused Liberal councillors of hijacking the issue for political gain. Mr. Iemma today urged the council to reconsider its 65 vote against flying the flag over the heritagelisted building. "Our flag is a symbol of national unity and the council decision is just ridiculous, they want to reconsider it and reconsider immediately," he said. "There's no excuse for anyone else to be saying 'Well, because of the incidents, the riots of two weeks ago we're not going to fly the Australian flag.' That is just ridiculous." Waverley deputy mayor George Newhouse, who was among councillors whorejected the flag proposal, said it had nothing to do with racial tensions.

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"We already fly the flag at Bondi, we proudly fly the flag at Bondi and this decision has absolutely nothing to do with racism or Cronulla. It has everything to do with practical common sense," Mr Newhouse said. "The Pavilion is a heritagelisted building and it will cost thousands of dollars to perform a heritage study and then erect the poles, which don't exist." "We already have the flag, we love the flag, there is no problem with the flag and as for council banning the flag, it's absolute nonsense." Council had first voted against installing the flag in March 2005, Mr. Newhouse said. "To raise it again in December was purely to manipulate the flag and the Cronulla racism issue," he said. He accused Liberal councillors of taking advantage of the race riots to raise the issue of the flag again, adding: "That is truly offensive." Greens state MP Lee Rhiannon said Waverley Council was far from shy of flying the national flag. "I have lived in Waverley municipality all my life and have seen the Australian flag flying on the council chambers and at appropriate municipal events," Ms. Rhiannon said. "Community tensions were running high at the time...the noflag option is a sensible choice." Oh shit... Cartoon Case: EU and UN Call Denmark to Account December 28, 2005 From: www.brusselsjournal.com By Paul Belien The Danish cartoon case is becoming a neverending story, which shows that freedom of speech no longer exists in Europe. After the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the United Nations and the Council of Europe, the European Union is now the fourth multinational organisation to lash out at the Danish government for not calling a Danish newspaper to account for publishing caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Franco Frattini, the vicePresident of the European Commission, called the publication of the twelve cartoons "thoughtless and inappropriate" in a time when animosity towards Islam is on the rise. According to Frattini, the EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom, and Security, the cartoons foment hostility against Islam and foreigners: "Honestly, these kinds of drawings can add to the growing Islamophobia in Europe. I fully respect the freedom of speech, but, excuse me, one should avoid making any statement like this, which only arouses and incites to the growing radicalisation." The twelve cartoons were not all disrespectul, but Islam prohibits making pictures of the prophet. The Danish newspaper JyllandsPosten published the cartoons last September to test the limits of free speech in multicultural Denmark.

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The ambassadors of eleven Muslim countries to Copenhagen, including Bosnia and Turkey, asked Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to demand that the paper apologize to Muslims, but Rasmussen refused to interfere because the Danish government respects the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. According to the author Robert Spencer the EU reaction shows that the EU recommends dhimmitude: "Instead of praising Rasmussen for his defense of Western values of free speech, the EU is demanding that he stand down and adopt their policy of appeasement." What the whole affair has so far proved is that Denmark is one of the last Western countries where freedom of speech still exists. "I am a Catholic myself, and if anyone had created a drawing of a holy Christian symbol with a bomb and a message about death, I would personally take it as an insult," Frattini said. Does he really? Frattini became European commissioner last year because the European Union vetoed the Catholic Rocco Buttiglione because as a Catholic the latter disapproved of homosexuality and abortion. Meanwhile, the UN has taken its action against Denmark a step further by asking the Danish Prime Minister for "an official explanation." Doudou Diene, a Senegalese investigator appointed by the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Louise Arbour, has asked the Rasmussen government to respond to the question: "Do the caricatures insult or discredit?" Copenhagen is expected to present the UN its "official view" on January 24. Diene emphasized that the UN are taking the matter very seriously because, he says, "Islamophobia is the greatest component of discrimination within Europe." Earlier on, the Canadian Arbour had stated in a letter to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference that the cartoons were "an unacceptable disrespect." More proof things like the Kyoto Treaty are just scams to steal jobs from the U.S. Global Warming: Blame the Forests January 12, 2006 From: www.guardian.co.uk By Alok Jha They have long been thought of as the antidote to harmful greenhouse gases, sufferers of, rather than contributors to, the effects of global warming. But in a startling discovery, scientists have realised that plants are part of the problem. According to a study published today, living plants may emit almost a third of the methane entering the Earth's atmosphere. The result has come as a shock to climate scientists. "This is a genuinely remarkable result," said Richard Betts of the climate change monitoring organisation the Hadley Centre. "It adds an important new piece of understanding of how plants interact with the climate." Methane is second only to carbon dioxide in contributing to the greenhouse effect. "For a given mass of methane, it is a stronger greenhouse gas, but the reason it is of less concern is that there's less of it in the atmosphere," said Dr. Betts.

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But the concentration of methane in the atmosphere has almost tripled in the last 150 years, mainly through humaninfluenced socalled biogenic sources such as the rise in rice cultivation or numbers of flatulent ruminating animals. According to previous estimates, these sources make up twothirds of the 600m tonnes worldwide annual methane production. Frank Keppler, of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, who led the team behind the new research, estimated that living plants release between 60m and 240m tonnes of methane per year, based on experiments he carried out, with the largest part coming from tropical areas. David Lowe, of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, said the new work, published in Nature, is important for two reasons. "First, because the methane emissions they document occur under normal physiological conditions, in the presence of oxygen, rather than through bacterial action in anoxic environments," he wrote in an accompanying article. "Second, because the estimated emissions are large, constituting 1030% of the annual total of methane entering Earth's atmosphere." Yadvinder Malhi, a specialist in the relationship between vegetation and climate at Oxford University, said the plant source of methane had probably been missed in the past because scientists have a poor understanding of the way methane circulates in the atmosphere. "There are a variety of sources and sinks of methane and there are huge error bars on those terms," he said. "What's been uncertain is where the methane is coming from and where it's going. Unlike carbon dioxide, methane is much more dynamic; it lasts about 10 years in the atmosphere." Biogenic methane has traditionally been assumed to come from organic materials as they decompose in oxygenfree environments. But Dr Keppler found plants emit the gas even in normal, oxygenrich surroundings: between 10 and 1,000 times more methane than dead plant material. When the plants were exposed to the sun, the rate of methane production increased. "Until now all the textbooks have said that biogenic methane can only be produced in the absence of oxygen," Dr Keppler said. "For that simple reason, nobody looked closely at this." The discovery sheds further light on the complex relationship between greenhouse gases and the environment. "If you're after predictions of global average temperature, it won't make a huge amount of difference," said Dr Betts. "But it shows how complicated it is to exactly quantify reforesting or deforesting in comparison with current fossil fuel emissions." It will also intensify debates on whether targets in climate change treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol should be based entirely on carbon emissions, which are easily measured, or also take sinks into account, which remove carbon from the atmosphere but are more difficult to measure. For climate scientists, the new work clears up a few unexplained features in the environment. "The rate of methane increase in the atmosphere has slowed down in the last 10 years and there was no really convincing explanation of why that's been going on," said Dr Mahli. "This paper argues that tropical deforestation may be a factor there." In addition, the new research could help to explain the source of plumes of methane observed by satellites over tropical forests. "The sheer biomass of the forest may be a factor there," said Dr Mahli. The fact that plants produce methane does not mean that planting forests is a bad idea, however. "Putting a tree where there was no tree before locks up a lot of carbon and this [new research] perhaps reduces the overall benefit of that by a fraction," said Dr Mahli. 81

Some mysteries remain: how and why plants produce methane is unclear. Dr Keppler's team said the search for an answer is likely open up a new area of research into plant biochemistry. Other surprise results: Tree Planting Researchers in North Carolina found that planting trees to soak up carbon dioxide can suck water and nutrients from the ground, dry up streams and change the soil's mineral balance. Aerosols A recent study in Nature found cutting air pollution could trigger a surge in global warming. Aerosols cool the Earth by reflecting radiation back into space. Scrapping them would have adverse consequences. Global Dimming In 2003 scientists noticed levels of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface had dropped by 20% in recent years because of air pollution and bigger, longerlasting clouds. Remember: These people are heros to $2600 Magazine. Student Killed "For Refusing to Convert to Islam" January 4, 2006 From: www.lse.co.uk LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) A heartbroken mother today described how her son was executed after he refused to convert to Islam. Accountancy student Adrian Marriott was shot by a rival gang five times in the head at close range in June 2004, a few weeks before his 21st birthday. Three members of the gang, known as the 'Muslim Boys', were accused of plotting the murder after trying to convert Adrian, a member of south London's 'Peel Den Crew', to Islam. But Marcus Archer, Aaron IrvingSimpson and Marlon Stubbs, all 24, were found not guilty of conspiracy to murder at the Old Bailey after the prosecution offered no evidence. Speaking at an inquest at Southwark Coroner's Court, the victim's mother, Ruth Marriott, said she heard her son being gunned down in the park where he walked his dog. She said: "We heard the shooting. We heard gun fire. The thought did strike me that Adrian could be involved, but it was a fleeting thought. Then we heard from police the following evening what had happened. "Adrian was told on the Sunday prior to his death that he would be killed if he did not become a Muslim by the Wednesday, which was the day he died." Asked by Coroner John Sampson whether Adrian had taken the threat seriously she added: "I do not think he did."

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Struggling to hold back tears she said the last time she had seen her son was in the afternoon on the day before he was killed. She said: "He was happy. He was pestering me to order something for him out of my catalogue." She added that Adrian loved his family very much. She said: "He liked music and football, but Adrian was very much a family man. He also loved his dog. They would go out together regularly to the park that he died in." Adrian was found in Barrington Road, Brixton. A post mortem revealed he had died from multiple firearms wounds to the head. The coroner today recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. He said: "He was found dead having clearly been subjected to an attack with a firearm. I'm going to conclude that he was unlawfully killed." Detective Sergeant John Stafford, of Operation Trident, who led the murder hunt, told the inquest that Adrian's murder was still under investigation. He said: "It does indeed remain a live matter. We are effectively reviewing what happened at court and still keen to talk to witnesses." During the trial in September 2005, the jury were told that Stubbs and Archer had professed to have a 'missionary zeal' for converting people to Islam and had targeted Adrian, his sister Tara and her friend Jade Okai. The two women had agreed to become Muslims, had made a declaration of faith and had been given hijabs, or headscarfs, the court was told. But Adrian, of Swinford Gardens on the Angel Town Estate in Brixton, had fallen out with the men, claiming he was threatened and had had a 500 'tax' demanded from him. After the three were formally acquitted of conspiracy to murder, Archer was jailed for eight years for firearms offences he had admitted earlier. It was also revealed to the jury that Stubbs is currently serving a four year prison sentence for rape. Canadians are savages. I hope they don't export their brand of terror to the U.S. I'll bet you 100 dead baby seals that this was part of some "honor killing" bullshit. Husband Who Paid for Arson Attack That Killed 2 Calgary Children Convicted January 19, 2006 From: www.cbc.ca Abdulazziz Ellahib, the man who ordered an arson attack that killed two young Calgary children has been found guilty of manslaughter, but a judge has found his wife not guilty. The case involved an affair between the father of the children and the wife of the man convicted of the crime. Two crack addicts who carried out the firebombing testified during the trial that they were each paid $60 to set fire to the house.

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Ellahib was also found guilty of arson causing bodily harm in the case. His wife, Manar Hussein, was found not guilty on charges of manslaughter and arson causing bodily harm. Sixyearold Ali alMayahi and his fouryearold sister Saja died on Nov. 18, 2004 when a fire started by a Molotov cocktail tore through their Calgary condominium. Their mother Salima Barih jumped from the secondstorey of the home after not being able to reach her children; their father Tahsin alMayahi wasn't home at the time. Michael Sheets and Fernum Kezar both pleaded guilty to manslaughter and arson charges, and have been sentenced to 15 and 16 years in prison. Crown Attorney Gordon Haight argued that Ellahib hired Sheets and Kezar to set fire to the home, because Tahsin alMayahi had an affair with his wife, Manar Hussein, and was speaking badly of her within the Iraqi community. AlMayahi testified that Hussein became angry when he broke off their relationship. Barih testified that Hussein had threatened her family. Ellahib's lawyer Alain Hepner argued his client only hired Sheets and Kezar to assault alMayahi, and had no knowledge of the fire. Both Hussein and Ellahib denied there had been an affair. Hussein, at the request of Ellahib, took Sheets and Fernum money after the incident, but says she didn't know what it was for. Sheets and Kezar testified they called Ellahib for confirmation that no one would be home before they set the fire. Testimony showed calls to Ellahib's cell that night went to voice mail. A third man, Tony DeWitt who the Crown said gave the two men the money to buy gas to make the Molotov cocktail, was found not guilty on a charge of arson. Ellahib will be sentenced March 3. Bill Gates making money off other peoples ideas: Bad Kevin Rose making money off other peoples ideas: Good Geeks Are Jerks January 10, 2006 From: damagedintransit.com Recently Digg.com has been attacking Steve Mallette. They thought that Steve Mallette copied code from digg into his ipod website projects. But in fact he had used an open source digg clone called Pligg. But no one even checked on this. But in fact Pligg is not to blame either! Why? Because Pligg is based on another open source project in Spanish called Meneame. So digg users decided to attack him with many blog posts and attacks on his personal character. Digg is out of control. Giving this much power to greedy 12 year olds won't work. The whole "web 2.0 Ajax ruby on rails" crap is just that, crap. Digg won't revolutionize the Internet. I use slash dot for all my geeky news because I know it's trustworthy. If they run an article on Steve Mallett they will say they don't know if it's true or not. They won't attack his personal character.

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True geeks won't use digg. Why? Because not only is digg full of crappy blog posts and links to sites with no relation to technology but because it is moderated wrong. Removing posts related to Godaddy's hosting package because diggnation has them as a sponsor is stupid. It only protects their podcast. If they want money why don't they make diggnation part of the digg.com company and use some of the 2.8 million they got from VC's to support the show. Deleting a post which was freespeech against Godaddy is like deleting a post that supports George Bush off of cnn.com. Digg.com is owned by Kevin Rose an ex member of The Screensavers on the old TechTV. He has made IPTV shows like The Broken and systm but recently it looks like his "hacker ethic" has turned into I want money and I will step on all of you. More Democrat voter fraud. Don't count on Manny Golddigger mentioning this! TireSlashing Boasts Recalled January 11, 2006 From: www.jsonline.com By Derrick Nunnally The key state witness in the election day 2004 tireslashing trial testified Wednesday that the five defendants had all come into his office "excited, kind of boisterous" that morning to brag about vandalism that stranded 25 vans Republicans had planned to use for taking voters to polls. "I believe they were telling me they had gone to BushCheney headquarters from the office and punctured the tires of the vans in the staging area," said Opel Simmons III, a Virginia consultant to the Democratic Party who was in Wisconsin for the last days of the campaign. He was referring to the five local campaign workers including the sons of two prominent Milwaukee Democratic politicians now charged with felony property destruction. Sowande Omokunde, son of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (DMilwaukee); Michael Pratt, son of former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt; and Lewis Caldwell, Lavelle Mohammad and Justin Howell face up to 3 1/2 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 if convicted. Opening statements by some of the defense attorneys had suggested that Simmons might have been more involved in the tireslashings either by planning or by participation than he let on and blamed him and other outofstate Democratic campaigners for inflaming electionseason emotions. Simmons didn't start out being so cooperative. He was arrested by Milwaukee police later on Nov. 2, 2004, and held for two days before he was released and returned to Virginia. He said Wednesday that he initially told police "a very vague variation of the truth" until he was confronted with evidence from the investigation. "I didn't want to mention any of the guys," said Simmons, who later gave a complete, videorecorded statement to Assistant District Attorney David Feiss that has become a significant part of the case against Simmons' former campaign coworkers. His testimony is important because there is no eyewitness, confession or direct evidence linking the five men to the tireslashings. Instead, Feiss has built a case that leans heavily on getting jurors to believe that Simmons and another operative who came to Milwaukee to work on the election, Levar Stoney, are truthfully repeating what they heard the defendants say around the time the tires were cut. 85

On direct examination by Feiss, things went by the numbers. Simmons recounted many details close to verbatim from his earlier statements. The defendants came into Simmons' office, he testified, swapping highfives and making sounds like air spurting out of tires. He quoted statements by Pratt, Mohammad and Caldwell the same way he had earlier. "(Pratt) says, 'We've got 'em. They're not going anywhere today,' " Simmons said. Later on election day, he testified, he met again with Mohammad, who was pointing to an online news story about the tireslashings. "He said that he should print out a copy of the article and frame it," Simmons said. Gaps in Testimony Noted But crossexamination brought out several inconsistencies between Simmons' trial testimony and his earlier statements. Pratt's attorney, Rodney Cubbie, quizzed Simmons about withholding information from initial statements to police, but changing the story as he remained longer in custody and was confronted with more evidence. Cubbie pointed out that Simmons said Wednesday that the defendants had mud on their shoes from the van parking lot in the 7100 block of W. Capitol Drive, a detail he hadn't mentioned before. He noted that Simmons had told investigators that another campaign worker, Lashaunda Joy Williams, had been asleep in the Democratic Party office since before the defendants left, yet a gasstation receipt found in a rental car she was later pulled over in because its license number had been written down by the Republicans' security guard said someone had bought gas in that car at 3:30 a.m., about the time of the tireslashings or shortly afterward. When testimony finished for the day Wednesday, Robin Shellow, who represents Omokunde, was beginning to quiz Simmons on how much his workers had been doing to incite extraordinary enthusiasm in the election. Simmons had testified that he didn't go to the police as soon as the defendants admitted the tireslashing to him because he feared Republicans would counterattack, and said Democratic campaigners had been subject to "harassing" behavior, including having their vans followed, a worker "nearly arrested" for either loitering or jaywalking near Democratic offices, and frequent ticketing of campaign vehicles. "Unfortunately, in Milwaukee, we're all ticketed frequently," Shellow replied. Simmons' testimony is scheduled to continue today.

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